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Title: ULSAB-Advanced Vehicle Concepts - Environment for Green Vehicles, Efficient is better
Document #: SAE 2002-01-0360
Presented at: SAE 2002 World Congress & Exhibition, March 2002, Detroit MI.
Author: Peter T. Peterson, U. S. Steel.
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Abstract: This paper concerns itself with the environmental aspects of personal automotive transport. It must be said at the outset that improvement in environmental performance of personal automotive transport cannot be achieved at the expense of either the vehicle’s safety or its affordability.
The ULSAB-Advanced Vehicle Concepts (AVC) Program focused on development of steel applications for vehicles for the year 2004 and beyond. In its execution, concepts were developed for the popular European C-Class, or so-called Golf Class, and the North American Midsize Class, which is the target for the PNGV program, hereafter referred to as PNGV-Class vehicle. Therefore, the vehicle body structures employ the unique advantages of advanced steel grades, which provide heightened strength with excellent part forming. ULSAB-AVC vehicle body structure uses 100 percent high-strength steel grades, of which over 80 percent are advanced high-strength steels. These steels are combined with the most advanced manufacturing and joining technologies to achieve the structurally efficient designs and safety features found in ULSAB-AVC concepts.
Key to reaching the program objectives was meeting anticipated 2004 crash requirements with steel, achieving the delicate balance of mass efficiency without compromise to safety.
The resulting Midsize Class vehicle concept has a mass of less than a 1000 kg and has the capability of achieving a five-star safety rating. It also approaches the PNGV target mileage by achieving 60 miles per gallon on the highway, 47 miles per gallon in the city and 52 miles per gallon in the combined U.S. Driving Cycle. With high-volume manufacturing of 225,000 units per year, the AVC concept would not cost more to manufacture than comparable family sedans. Benchmarking data indicate that the Midsize Class ULSAB-AVC concept vehicle selling price would be below the selling price of current vehicles in the same class.
The ULSAB-AVC is the most recent addition to the global steel industry’s series of initiatives offering steel solutions to the challenges facing automakers around the world today. It succeeds ULSAB, ULSAC and ULSAS. The ULSAB-AVC concepts revolutionize the kinds of steels normally applied to vehicle architectures, as well as demonstrating cutting edge steel vehicle design. In addition to extensive use of advanced steels, ULSAB-AVC features a full spectrum of the latest steel technologies, including tailor welded blanks, tailored tubes, advanced joining techniques and tube and sheet hydroforming.
This project was envisioned by the collaborative efforts of 33 international steel producers forming the ULSAB-AVC Consortium. This concept, engineered by Porsche Engineering Services, Inc., Troy, Michigan, USA, brings the potential for safe, affordable, fuel efficient vehicles, which are environmentally responsible, to near-term reality. This paper presents ULSAB-AVC engineering results on the Environmental Performance of the complete vehicle.
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